No longer sensitive to the cold

Although it may not seem like a  big deal compared to some of the ther symptoms of anorexia, feeling freezing cold all the time was one of things I hated most of all about anorexia. When I went into hospital I was experiencing hypothermia which was truly aweful. I remember just having to lay there, my my bed with my electric blanket going all the time so that I wouldn't feel quite so freezing. This winter I didn't even have an electric blanket on my bed however!

After I got out of hospital, I didn't have serious hypothermia so much but I was still always freezing cold all the time. My fingernails always seemed to be blue and I couldnt do some things that I wanted to do, because Iwas so sensitive to the cold. Even in the middle of summer I couldn't go swimming at the beach or river with my sister as this would just cause me to become far to cold and once my temperature dropped, it wass a very difficult thing to get it to increase again.

One of the biggest everyday things that I have noticed since getting so much healthier is that I no longer feel the cold any worse then other people. In fact, I am probably more 'warm blooded' then the average person. For example yesterday it was quite cold so I had my fire going but as I was doing my housework, I felt as though I was oerheating so I ended up just doing it in my sports bra and a little pair of shorts. I felt completely comfortable wearing this temperature wise and I couldn't help but think about how cold I would have once felt wearing this.

I then went and took Tess for a quick walk, still only wearing the small shorts but also a jumper and even though the aair was cool, it certainly wasn't too cold. Once I got movng I felt completely comfortable and not once did I wish I had warn some longer pants. Even now, although it is only 7 degreess outdoors, I am sitting up in only a sports bra and a pair of little pyjama shorts, as that is what I wore to bed last night, and I feel fine! I know that the reason I no longer feel the cold is because my thermoregulatory system has been able to repair itself and has started working efficiently, now that I am providing myself with the energy my body needs.

Also, I guess I feel so warm all the time because I eat so much and so often, as heat is a product in the food metabolism process, (when the food you eat is digested and when the energy is used throuughout the body). With summer appraching, I am so happy to be feeling so healthy and I am excited that for the first time in a long while, my sensitivity to the cold will not stand in the way of me doing things that I want to do. I am so glad that I no longer suffer from sensitvity to the cold or hypothermia and I hope that I will never do so again!

To anyone out there trying to stay warm whilst battliing an eating disorder, there are various different thhings you can do to warm up. Especially in winter, I always wore many layers and also had a warm heat pack, permantly attatched to me which I would cuddle or have resting on my stomach. Of course the best advice I can give to you is to nourish your body and allow it to recover. Only then will you no longer feel the cold so much!

Keeping Warm

Fortunately, since eating recovery amounts and reaching a healthy weight I no longer feel the cold any worse then normal people. In fact , I actually seem less tollerant to the cold then others around me. I think that the main reason I can now regulate my body temperature so well is because I eat plenty and often. This means that if ever my body temperature begins to drop, there is enough energy readily available fo my body to use to warm me back up again.

One of the main reasons I went to hospital in the firsst place after being diagnosed with anorexia was because my hypothermia was so bad. It was the most awful feeling, being so cold all the time but since Iwasn't eating, my body didn't have any energy to keep me warm. For the days leading up to going to hospital, all I could do was lay in bed with my electric blanket on and try to keep warm.

Even once I started eating a little more, it took a long time before my metabolism kicked back into gear and I was able to properly regulate my body temperature. I suppose the fact that I was so thin didn't help either as I had no insulation at all. My fingernails were always purple or blue and my hands were always as cold as ice. In some parts of the world where it is warm all the time, anorexics may not have this problem but here in Tasmania (the coldest state of Australia) we certainly do!

Here are some of the things I used to do to try and warm myself up whenever Iwas feeling cold (which was basicaly all the time). I hope that some of you who suffer from the cold can find them helpful :)

• WEAR LAYERS: I always wore thermal pants and tops under my other clothes ad they helped a lot to keep me warmer. Thermals can be quite expensive, but Ithink they are definetely worth it. You only really need a couple of pairs so that you can wear one pair whille the others are in tthe wash.
• WEAR SOCKS/UGG BOOTS: I find that if my feet are cold, then so is the rest of me is too. By keeping my feet warm I usually find that less of the warmth seems to escape from my body.
• HEAT PACK: Whilse I was sick, my heat pack was my best friend. Iwas constantly warming my heat pack up every hour or so and I would always place it on my stomach underneath my clothes. I would only do this while I was at home of course but I found that having direct contact with something like that really helped to keep me warm.
• BLANKETS: While I was at home, I also almost always had a blanket wrapped around me. No matter where I was, ehether it was sitting by the fire or cooking my tea, I always had a blanket around me (looking back this probably wasnt the safest thing, as a blanket in the kiche nis a bit of a hazard ;o).
• HOT BATH: Whenever I felt as though I just couldn't warm up, I would go for a a hot bath. It felt like heaven laying in the hot water and having every part of my body feel warm. The only problem was, eventually you would have to get out and then you would feel cold again.
• ELECTRIC HEATER: Luckily, my family always had a electric heater in the house that I could switch on if I ever started to feel my body temperature dropping, before it got too low. I felt guilty fo rusing the heater too much as I didn't want to run my dads power bill too high but it was stil handy to use when I was feeling especially cold.
• PUFFER JACKET: My Katmandu puffer jacket is seriously the best thing I have ever owned and the piece of clothing I have worn the most. It is extremely warm as it it filled with goose down feathers and I absolutely love it. They are quite expnsive but in my opinion, completely worth the cost.
• ONESIE: I love my onseies and they were my saviour whilst I was at my sickest. I love snuggling by the fire in my onesie and it always helps me to warm up.

Of course the best advice that I can give you is TO EAT. If you give your body the energy it needs, it will start regulating more body temperature efficiently again. Also drinking hot drinks or eating hot food is a wonderful way to warm you up. Also, when your body digests food, heat is produced so this is why you may feel warmer quite soon directly after eating. I used to hate being so cold all the time and being much warmer all the time now is honestly one of the best things about being in recovery in my opinion :)

No longer feeing the cold

One of the biggest probems for me when I was at my sickest is that I would get terribely cold all the time. Before I went into hospital, I suffered from hypothermia as well as when I got out of hospital. Even in the middle of summer I would still always have a blanket around me whilst I was at home and always wore jumpers outside, no matter how nice it was.

I was no longer able to swim in pools, at the river or at the beach as my body temperature would start to drop once I got in the water and it was extremely hard for me to wam back up again. My fingernails were constantly a blue/purple colour and I constantly has goosebumps. Being cold was one of the worst side effects for me of my anorexia and it really did interfere with my life.

Since I have started eating recovery amounts, this has all changed. My temperature no longer drops when I get cold as the thermoregulation in my body now works. This is because my metabolism had repaired and my body no longer feels as though it must conserve energy by shutting down body processes such as thermo-regulation, as I am providing it with so much food.

The last few days have been extremely freezing however it really has not bothered me at all. In fact, I seem to feel the cold even less then most other people I know which I think is fantastic, considering how much I have suffered with feeling cold in the past. This morning when I went for a walk with Tess before work, it was freezing, I walked her at 7:40am on the beach and even the sand was icy and it was still zero degrees celcius.

Even though my hands stung because the air was so cold, I actually didn't feel cold at all, I felt great! It feels trully fantastic to be able to withstand the cold so much now and I hope that this will continue into the future. I think it should as long as I continue to eat enough food, to provide my body with all the energy as it needs.

A cold start to winter

It is only the second day of winter but it is already freezing cold. I am not looking forward to walking Tess early in the morning as it is only supposed to be about 4 degrees celcius (0 degrees realfeel). Luckily however, I am not feeling the cold anywhere near as badly this winter as I was this time last year or the year before.

Like many people suffering from Anorexia, I have always had trouble regulating my body temperature ever since developing my illness. I had bad hypothermia before I went into hospital and have been very sensitive to the cold ever since. Even in the middle of summer I would sometimes get blue finger nails because I was so cold and couldnt go swimming as I would feel far too cold.

Not only have I gained weight since then, but my body now has enough energy readily available for it to regulate my body temperature better. In fact, since increasing my calories to recovery amounts, I am now sometimes less sensitive to the cold then other people. I have been suffering from night sweats the last few nights which is crazy, considering it is so cold but I suppose it is just because I am eating so much.

While I was experiencing hypermetabolism symptoms as soon as I increased my calories before I really started gaining a significant amount of weight, I hadnt had symptoms of it for quite a while. I only started experiencing the symptoms again a couple of days ago, which could explain why I lost weight at that time. if you want to read a bit more about hypermetabolism, you can read a blog post I wrote a while ago here.

I am curious to see what my weight has done over the last few day when I weigh myself tomorrow morning. I honestly think I will have gained the amount I need to but if I havent, I will just increase my intake again. I dont care how much I eventually have to eat, I am determined to do it as I simply refuse to give into my anorexia. I would like to gain atleast 300g since my last weigh in (which is 100g per day) but would be happy with any weight gain at all after my last weigh In.

I will let you all know how I go tomorrow morning. :) I hope everyone has had/is having a wonderful day, keep fighting <3